The Squid's Ear Magazine


Countryman, Rick / Christian Bucher: Once (FMR)

From the same 2017 session that was released as the album Estuary, this concert in the Philippines between American expatriate saxophonist Rick Countryman and visiting Swiss drummer Christian Bucher expands on the free playing of these two empathetic improvisers, presenting a mix of textural, conceptual, melodic and rhythmic interplay steeped in their personal histories.
 

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Personnel:



Rick Countryman-alto saxophone

Christian Bucher-drums


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Label: FMR
Catalog ID: FMR 629
Squidco Product Code: 31999

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: UK
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded live in the Philippines, on July 13th, 2017, by Alvin Cornista.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"Live duo music from American expatriate saxophonist Rick Countryman and visiting Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, from the same 2017 Philippines session that produced Estuary. A creative mix of textural, conceptual, melodic and rhythmic interplay that captures the empathy shared between the two artists. Energetic, free flowing spontaneity, that has a subtle sense of logical composition and speaks to past generations."-FMR



"We recorded live at an unlikely, but supportive Manila venue called 20:20, back in 2017. Expecting that the crowd might be lively, which was the case, we came early to record a set before things got active. so, we ended up recording 3 sets. Estuary, was the first release from that night."-Rick Countryman

See also Estuary, recorded at the same sessions as Once.

Artist Biographies

"Rick Countryman (January 31, 1957) is an American jazz saxophonist and flautist.

After years attracting little attention as a baritone saxophone player, including an extended sabbatical, Rick made a late-life change to alto sax, at the urging of bassist, Simon Tan. His first recorded session with Simon and Christian Bucher, avant garde drummer from Switzerland, attracted the attention of French label "Improvising Beings" and was released as "Acceptance - Resistance". The recordings received many positive reviews, both in the United States and Europe.

Rick currently now has 9 releases on 4 labels across Europe, Asia, and the United States, including multiple CDs with Japanese improvisational drummer, Sabu Toyozumi, who has made several trips to Manila to perform and record. The music continues to receive positive reviews and airplay. Two recordings were listed in "Gold Dolphy 2018".

Since 2011, Rick has been an active member of the Manila jazz scene. He leads and performs in ensembles on baritone saxophone, alto saxophone, alto flute and bass flute; performing original compositions, as well as free jazz/improvisation, in his own jazz quartets and trios. His style is heavily influenced by Eric Dolphy, Sonny Simmons and the 60s Free Jazz movement. He was a student of Bert Wilson, and considers Michael Bisio and Rick Mandyck early mentors."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Countryman)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Christian Bucher (* 1969 in Zug ) is a Swiss drummer in the field of jazz and improvisational music .

From 1990 to 1997, Bucher studied musicology , art history and literature at the University of Bern, and from 1992 to 1997 he studied music at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Zurich (jazz music with Kevin Austin, Tony Renold, Peter Preibisch, diploma). He also attended workshops with Paul Lovens and Billy Cobham and studied with Pierre Favre , Willy Kotoun, Marcel Bernasconi and Andreas Hermann at the Lucerne Music College .

He then continued his post-graduate studies in free improvisation with Walter Fähndrich, Peter K. Frey and Christoph Baumann at the Lucerne Music College (2002-2003). Bucher also worked as a drummer teacher at the music school Horw , Emmen and at the teachers' seminar St. Michael Zug from 2000 to 2005.

Guido Egli and he wrote the music for the two documentary films of Stefan Jäger "From the Ground I Were a Man to Life" and "Steps against the Wind", which was shown on television and at film festivals. Bucher was a co-founder of Jazztrios Nevertheless and a member of the group of 9 artists .

Bucher works as a soloist and plays in duo with BUG, ​​in the duo Bucher / Fehlmann, in the duo ZurBucher and in the band Portobello; He is still involved in projects related to other art genres. As drummer and percussionist he gave solo concerts, partly in connection with painting, sculpture, photography, video, installation, performance, architecture, literature, theater and dance.

He has played CDs and has recorded radio and TV recordings as well as festival performances, concert tours and performances, which take him to Australia, Bulgaria, China, Germany, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Slovenia, Spain. South Africa, the USA or Turkey."

-Wikipedia (translated by Google) (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Bucher)
3/13/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Bye Bye Butterfly 4:42

2. All Things 3:17

3. Once 6:57

4. Third Coconut 3:49

5. Next Time 5:03

6. Third Estuary 5:09

7. Again Once 6:07

8. Lost Butterfly 2:43

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
Saxophone & Drummer / Percussionist Duos
Duo Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
New in Improvised Music

Search for other titles on the label:
FMR.


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The Squid's Ear Magazine

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